NGO Education Survey

Department: Nonprofit Management

Courses:

Capstone/Applied Research Project

In this culminating project for the program, students will apply the research skills they have learned throughout the program in conjunction with the leadership and management knowledge they have garnered to complete a research project of their choosing. Students will collect data (quantitative or qualitative) and tabulate their findings to support recommendations on their project. The project will include a literature review, methods section, data collection and analysis, and recommendations.

Conflict Management

Understanding that conflict is often a by-product of professional and personal interaction, this course offers strategies for constructively resolving issues at both the individual and group levels. Using self-reflection, personality inventories, and the study of temperaments, including the works of Myers-Briggs, Gregorc and Sternberg, it will enable participants to look beyond themselves, seeking to understand the greater motivations behind the actions and reactions of others.

Financial Management of Nonprofit Organizations

This course will examine the critical financial considerations of the nonprofit organization, including sources of funds, reserve development and management, and financial accountability. In an environment that privileges accountability to funding sources in lieu of maximizing shareholder value, the students will consider the key financial measures and strategies required to ensure the effectiveness and sustainability of the organization. The course will also consider nonprofit financial statements as indicators of financial health and sound management.

Fundamentals of Health and Health Systems

The course is designed to provide the student with critical knowledge and skills regarding health status, health data, health delivery Ecosystems, comparative health systems, law & policy, health economics and sources and uses of public data. The student will also develop skills to evaluate equity regarding the access, delivery and outcomes for underserved populations in the US population served by healthcare system in the United States. The student will also review emerging challenges to the healthcare system.

Fundamentals of Human Resources Management

Students will explore the techniques and skills necessary to manage and effectively guide human resources in a rapidly changing technological and competitive environment. Emphasis is on student ability to formulate and implement strategies to understand, guide, and develop human resources within the modern organization. Students will analyze psychological and ethical issues facing management and employees, along with behavioral concerns as experienced within organizations.

Fundraising

This course will address the fundamentals of fundraising in its various forms: annual giving, grants (government and foundation), major gifts, individual donations, and estate planning. Students will have the opportunity to consider the economics of the philanthropic community as a whole, and the giving processes of the individual donor and foundation. Types of donors and philanthropic institutions as well as distinct terms and conditions of giving and accountability will be covered.

Marketing the Nonprofit

This course will examine the particular marketing challenges associated with defining the approaches and services to beneficiaries as well as the cultivation of funding sources. At the organization and program levels, students will consider the application of marketing principles and branding to program design, promotion, and public relations, especially in relation to fundraising. The course will address a variety of methods for reaching the public such as traditional media, social media, and online communications.

Nonprofit Law

Nonprofit organizations operate according to a complex set of state, federal and common law that impact and limit the organization’s activities in exchange for the nonprofit status and tax exempt benefit. Lobbying, political activity and for profit activities are among the areas affected. This course will provide the fundamentals of nonprofit law and provide the student with guidance on how to navigate and remain compliant with the law and regulations and successfully operate the 21st Century nonprofit organization.

Organizational Behavior

This course will examine some of the basic concepts and theories of organizational behavior, the study of what people think, feel and do in and around organizations. Human behavior issues in organizations will be studied from individual, group and system level perspectives, equipping students to better understand, predict and influence others, and enabling them to help their organizations become more efficient and effective. Topics include perceptions, personality, motivation, stress management, team dynamics, decision-making, communication, organizational leadership, conflict and negotiation, power and influence, and organizational structure and culture.

Organizational Ethics

This course will provide students with an introduction to the ethical issues facing managers in a variety of nonprofit and for-profit settings to equip them with the tools necessary to navigate these challenges and act in an ethically appropriate way. Classical theories of normative ethics -- in particular, the consequentialist approaches of Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill, the deontological approach of Immanuel Kant, and the virtue ethics approach of Aristotle -- will be critically examined and applied to a number of ethical dilemmas that arise in organizational settings. Students will be presented with practical frameworks for making ethical choices and taught to build ethical decision trees to evaluate the ethical implications of different courses of action. Ethical challenges that will be considered include hiring, firing, sexual harassment, compensation, conflicts of interest, product safety, deceptive advertising, pricing, and whistleblowing. The issue of corporate social responsibility will be explored. We will also consider the descriptive ethical question of why we fail to do what is right and what to do about it.

Professional Writing and Communication

Students will gain a deeper understanding of professional writing and communications skills. They will develop competence in advanced written and oral communications, research and information literacy, reading and critical thinking.

Project and Program Management

This course will prepare students to manage scheduling, resource allocation, time/cost tradeoffs, risk assessment, task coordination, team-building, progress monitoring, and post-project assessment through a comprehensive overview of project management. Special emphasis will be placed on program development, implementation, and program goals and assessment.

Social Entrepreneurship

This course examines the rapid growth of social entrepreneurship throughout the world and its ability to enrich communities by employing traditional business skills on behalf of the social sector. It also examines whether business entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs use similar skills and tools and how their measured outcomes differ. Specifically, the course looks at how social entrepreneurs address market failure and the absence of viable markets with innovative and unconventional perceptions and solutions. Using the case study approach, students examine the operation of several successful and innovative examples of social entrepreneurship and explore how the knowledge acquired from these successes can be used to solve other important economic and social problems. Key questions that thread the course include: What is opportunity? How do we recognize it? How do we evaluate it? How do we obtain resources to pursue it and, therefore, meet our goals and improve the world?

Strategic Planning in the Nonprofit Organization

Thinking and planning strategically are essential for anyone in a leadership position and for those who aspire to assume that role in the future. This course covers the entire strategic planning process from gathering data, identifying key stakeholders, formulating your vision and mission, defining your objectives and goals to writing, communicating, and implementing your plan with staff and board members.

Theory and Future of Nonprofits

This course explores the magnitude, scope and functions of the non-profit sector and its relationships with business and government. The topics include non-profit theory, principles of organization management, budgeting and resource management, advocacy governance and more. Consideration will also be given to the role of mission and public responsibility in defining the strategy and operational activities of the nonprofit corporation.

Using Technology to Build Community and Grow Your Organization

Community affiliations are rapidly evolving in the 21st century, reflecting significant changes in society at large. New tools are needed to keep in step with the challenges facing community-focused organizations. This course will examine online networking tools that can be used to foster connectivity, communication, and collaboration in order to strengthen communal organizations. Hands-on exploration of online tools will be required. Prior experience is not necessary.